There are no easy methods of learning difficult things; the method is to close your door, give out that you are not at home, and work. – Joseph de Maistre

The one thing that matters is the effort. It continues, whereas the end to be attained is but an illusion of the climber, as he fares on and on from crest to crest; and once the goal is reached it has no meaning. РAntoine de Saint-Exup̩ry, The Wisdom of the Sands, translated from French by St

Do not waste a minute, not a second, in trying to demonstrate to others the merit of your own performance. If your work does not vindicate itself, you cannot vindicate it, but you can labor steadily on to something which needs no advocate but itself. – Thomas Wentworth Higginson, “Letter to a Young Contributor,” The Atlantic Monthl